My brother, reincarnate
“You are my brother from our previous life”, he embraced me. His sincerity disarms me as I reciprocated his kind approach. His belief in reincarnation is overwhelming. When he speaks, he is a spell binder!
He is only one who can quote the campaign speech of then candidate Diosdado Macapagal at Plaza Miranda in the ‘60’s. He can mesmerize his audience with quotations from iconic Jose P. Laurel and Claro M. Recto. He can send guffaws with his jokes.
The man is retired but he is not tired of living. At 79 years old, he is walking almanac of local history. He can surprise you with wide latitude of informations on World and American history.
He is from humble beginnings. His family could hardly make both ends meet – he has ten siblings. He was a product of public schools - Moises Salvador Elementary School and Mapa High School in Manila.
He was able to pursue of his studies as a son of a recognized guerrilla leader during the Japanese occupation. Despite having to borrow books from friends and libraries, he hurled his law course in 1962 and passed with flying colors, the bar exams on the same year.
In 1972, he started his judicial career. In 1980, he bagged the IBP Award as one of the Most Outstanding Municipal Judges of the Philippines. Fittingly, he was promoted as Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge in 1983 assigned in Zambales up to 1989. He was cited as an illustrious son of Zambales for “untarnished record x x x which could be considered model to all public servants” x x x
He subsequently served as RTC Judge of Guagua and San Fernando, Pampanga until his promotional transfer to RTC Quezon City in 1993.
His stars shone brighter in Quezon City as he was elected by his peers as their President from 1997 to 2000.
He was respected by lawyers who appeared in his sala.
The leading criminal lawyer, Phillip Sigfrid A. Fortun said of him – “Please allow me to express my admiration for your crudition, logic, and thoroughness displayed for all to see in that order granting Wang Tien En’s bail application. It was refreshing and energizing read from start to finish. You handled incident with amazing dispatch and gave M. Wang a gift for Christmas that he will cherish the rest of his life. Thank you for enhancing my faith in the bench, particularly in the current breed of trial court judges. Thank you too for restoring the people’s faith in the judicial system, a service you has unselfishly given which I will remember throughout my career as a trial practitioner.”
In 2002, he was chosen by Consumer Union of the Philippines as an Outstanding RTC Ju d ge.
In 2004, he was cited as one of the awardees for Judicial Excellence by the Supreme Court of the Philippines. Shortly thereafter, he was elevated to the Court of Appeals. He is one of the few Pampangueños who reached the second highest tribunal of the land.
More importantly, he emphasizes that “No success can compensate for failure in the home”. He is happily married to Erlinda Miranda. They are blessed with gifted children – Edilberto Eller, a Medical Engineer; Emily Rose, a Doctor of Medicine and Alwin Aries, an Electronics and Communications Engineer. His grandchildren are equally talented in academics and music.
“We are all brothers, under the fatherhood of God” as he paraphrased St. Mother Teresa. Meet, Justice Agustin S. Dizon, my brother reincarnate!